5.4: The Political Cartoons of Thomas Nast

Thomas Nast is perhaps the most famous political cartoonist in American history. He worked for the New York-based weekly magazine Harper’s Weekly. Nast and Harper’s supported the North in the Civil War, taking a liberal and somewhat elitist Republican position. Both of the cartoons below feature a white female character called ‘Liberty’—a common symbol of the period. What does the symbol remind you of? Note the dates of the cartoons and the similarities and differences between them.

Franchise – Thomas Nast

Vocabulary

Questions:

Sourcing: Who drew these cartoons? What magazine were his cartoons published in? What do you know about this magazine?

Contextualization: When were the two cartoons drawn? What do you know about this time period?

Sourcing: Think back to the differences between Andrew Johnson and the Radical Republicans. Before looking at the cartoons, do you predict this cartoonist would be in favor of Radical Reconstruction? Why or why not?

Describe the African American man in this cartoon. Why do you think he’s on crutches?